Fractal Design Define R6

Overview

We'd like to see Fractal Design include USB Type-C as standard, but nevertheless, Define R6 is sleeker and more refined than most and serves as a genuine contender for any high-end build in 2018. -- As reviewed by HEXUS.net

Expert reviews and ratings

The Fractal Design Define R6 tries to find a middle-ground between silent performance and cooling performance. In order to eliminate the noise, the front, top and motherboard side panel are lined with a dampening layer. However, don’t expect a completely silent case since the noise will anyway come out of the case from the tempered glass side panel.

As I said above, this really is a perfect chassis. If there are any faults with it, they’re purely subjective and I couldn’t find any. Everything fit with ease, and there was plenty of room to spare beyond that. The price is incredibly competitive given the quality of the product. It’s just great to see the Define series resurrected in style.

The performance of the Define R6 is in keeping with previous efforts from Fractal Design, with impressively low noise levels and very good temperatures as well. Fractal Design doesn’t just have a winner with the Define R6, they have one of the best overall ATX cases on the market right now. Is it perfect? Well, I could complain about a couple of things, such as the HDD trays (I like the type that slide in), and I would always want a little more space behind the motherboard for cables - but no case really is perfect. This one comes very close, however. Highly recommended!

Regardless of the that, it is a feature-packed stylish box alright. You can house many HDDs and SSDs, the biggest graphics cards and power supplies will fit. Your cable routing is spot on and your fans versus airflow are silent.

With its three retail-grade fans and glass panel, it manages to impress, and while the price tag is quite adequate, some may argue that the I/O panel with the USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C connector or Flex VRC-25 could have been included right out of the box - just to add another tangibly useful and differentiating factor while increasing the bang for your buck.

The Define R6 from Fractal Design is a PC case which we can definitely recommend. If you are looking for a mid-tower PC case with pre-installed acoustic insulation material as well as silent fans and on top of that it's fully compatible with custom watercooling gear, this is a great choice. With this case it is really easy to build a high-end rig.

With a price point of $150 for the tempered glass version, the Fractal Design Define R6 is a great addition to the Define series of cases. This case has so many features that make not only building inside of it a pleasure, but provide multiple configuration options, all of which look great through the unobstructed tempered glass side panel.

The R6 is well-positioned in price between be quiet!’s budget Pure Base and high-end Dark Base lines, and the tempered glass version is a bit more than the Silent Base 800. The 800 doesn’t have a TG version, though, so for now the Define R6 has little competition in its specific niche.

It's often the case that as reviewers we like to tease you along into reading the whole review, if not at least the whole of the conclusion. we do this by not making our feelings clear until the very end. On this occasion though we're going to make...

The previous iteration of this case was decent enough, but the new Define R6 feels like a true return to form. Many of its design touches are arguably predictable (tempered glass, vertical GPU support, PSU shroud, etc.), but that doesn't make them any...

For enthusiasts looking for a well-rounded chassis, the Fractal Design Define R6 is an extremely versatile, feature packed case that is well worth the asking price. Even if you don't have immediate plans to install a pair of 360mm all-in-one coolers...